On the twelfth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, we must
honor the memory of the victims and think again of the pain and horror caused
by the 1994 killing campaign. We must recall the suffering that followed the
refusal of others in the world to heed the cries of those targeted for
extermination.

Honoring the victims requires us also to continue
investigating, documenting, and analyzing how the genocide was prepared and
executed, so as to be better prepared to avert similar horrors in the future.
As part of our continuing effort to bring to light the fullest information
possible about the genocide, we publish this briefing paper, drawing upon some
materials not previously used by researchers to show the planning and execution
of the genocide.1

[1] Human
Rights Watch (then Africa Watch) began reporting on massacres of Tutsi and
other human rights abuses in Rwanda in 1991. As part of an international
commission of inquiry, Human Rights Watch documented abuses and violations of
humanitarian international law from October 1990 through January 1993. In
partnership with the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues, Human
Rights Watch researchers began gathering evidence about the genocide in 1994.
After five years of research, we published Leave None to Tell the Story:
Genocide in Rwanda. Human Rights Watch staff regularly assist judicial authorities
in efforts to bring to justice those guilty of genocide and other violations of
international humanitarian law in Rwanda. This briefing paper continues efforts
to bring to light the fullest information possible about the genocide.